About Me

Proud homeschooling mom of 3 so far, Irish cradle Catholic, 3rd generation Red Sox fan, bookworm, and fitness video collector. I'm a New England Yankee at heart but have spent 10 of the past dozen years out here in Cali.

Our Family

DH: mycollege sweetheart and now husband of twelve years.Miss Scarlet: our oldest DD, age 9. She is in 5th grade and loves reading, creative writing, science, computer programming, drawing, and baking.Rusty, our DS, almost 7.He is in 1st grade and loves reading, science, history, drama, and anything mechanical.Princess Persimmon, ouryounger DD, who is 3 and loves getting into *everything!* She has autism and is currently attending a special day class.

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Sunday, March 25, 2007

Ah, the Naivete of Youthful Optimism...

The Lifetime cable network has a TV special airing Monday night called "Spotlight 25". The show features a group of 25-year-old women discussing their life goals. Journalist Willow Bay decided to interview Gen Y women after reading articles on the trend of highly educated women "opting out" of high-powered careers to become full-time homemakers. Lifetime commissioned a nationwide telephone poll of 500 women aged 18-29 and found that 85% wanted to remain in the workforce after having children.

Ms. Bay gushes that these women were "ambitious about creating a life that works for them, and having balance. They are confident that they will make the right choices and set the right priorities to achieve success in doing that." Wish that it were as simple as all that! I know that I personally had no clue before having my first child just how difficult it is to juggle the demands of a full-time job and motherhood.

Recent Census Bureau statistics find that the median age of first-time mothers is now over 25 . The median age at first birth for non-Latina Caucasian women is almost 28, and the median for college graduates is over 30. Given those statistics, few of the women in the Lifetime poll likely have children yet.

Talk to these women in 10 years, and we'll see how many of them still hold such a rosy view of being a working mom! Likely the reality of how challenging it is to balance career and family obligations will burst the bubble of their youthful naivete...